Homecoming Happiness; Owls Hold Off Blazers, 24-17

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vs North Texas

Nov 22

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Rice Stadium

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at South Florida

Nov 29

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Tampa, FL

Houston—Adding another page to a familiar script, Rice held off a last-gasp attempt by UAB, knocking down a throw into the end zone as time ran out, to give the Owls a 24-17 win over the Blazers on Rice's 105^th Homecoming. The win was the fourth in six games against UAB at Rice Stadium, with each win not decided until the final seconds.

How It Happened—The Blazers struck first, converting the game's lone turnover into an early touchdown, but Rice quarterback Chase Jenkins shook off his early miscue to lead a 10-play, 62-yard scoring march to tie the game 7-7. Facing a fourth down and the UAB 27, Jenkins and the Owls converted the first of four fourth-down conversions, connecting with Aaron Turner for four yards. One play later, Jenkins hit Tyson Thompson in stride for a 23-yard touchdown. Peyton Stevenson set up the Owls for an immediate opportunity to take the lead when he partially blocked a Blazer punt to set Rice up at the UAB 48. It was Stevenson's second career punt block, with the other also coming on Homecoming (2023 vs. SMU). Jenkins led the Owls on a methodical scoring march, using 19 plays to move the 48 yards, the finishing yard covered by true freshman running back D'Andre Hardeman Jr. The 19-play drive was the longest for Rice since a 19-play drive against North Texas on Homecoming in 2021. UAB responded with the final 10 points of the quarter to take a 17-14 lead into the locker room at halftime, but they would not score again. Rice wrestled the lead back from the Blazers on the first possession of the third quarter, covering 75 yards in 11 plays. He combined with Turner on a three-yard touchdown pass, his first career game with multiple touchdown passes. UAB attempted to answer on its first drive in the third, but the drive stalled at the Rice 37 when LaVonte Johnson stopped a fourth-down conversion attempt. Jenkins moved Rice back into scoring position again, highlighted by a 19-yard burst by Quinton Jackson. Enock Gota's first field goal attempt from 43 yards missed the mark, but he was given a second chance after the Blazers ran into him, and he took advantage of the second chance and converted from 38 yards to end the scoring but not the drama. UAB held Rice to just two yards in the fourth quarter and mounted four drives in the final quarter, but could not find the end zone. Their most serious threat saw them reach the Rice 30, but Tony Anyanwu and Ty Morris combined to sack UAB quarterback Ryder Burton on fourth down. Anyanwu and Chibby Nwajuaku combined on another sack of Burton with 1:56 left to set up another failed fourth down, but the Blazers regained possession with 50 seconds left and moved to the Rice 45 before Omari Porter knocked down Burton's hail mary attempt as the clock expired.

Up Next-Rice will take next Saturday off before hosting North Texas on November 22 to close out its 2025 home schedule. Game time and broadcast assignment will be announced on Monday.

Team Notes-
• Rice is now 197-222-7 all-time at Rice Stadium
• The Owls improved to 49-53-3 all-time on Homecoming and won the last two.
• The Owls are 5-3 this year when the opponent scores first.
• This was the 14th meeting between Rice and Navy, and the first time they have met on Homecoming at Rice.
• UAB leads the overall series 7-6, but Rice improved to 4-2 at Rice Stadium
• Rice's 19-play scoring drive to make the score 14-7 was the longest by the Owls this season.
• It was the longest drive by the Owls since they had a 19-play, 68-yard drive vs. North Texas on 10/30/21 (Homecoming #101) which resulted in a field goal in a 30-24 loss in overtime.
• Rice shut out UAB in the second half and and has allowed a combined 10 points in regulation in the second half of the last three home games (2-1).
• After collecting three sacks over the previous five games, the Owls were credited with five, one shy of their season-high of six at Charlotte.
• UAB was 0-3 on fourth-down conversions, while Rice converted four of five to improve to 16-28 on the season.

Dunlevie Family Head Football Coach Scott Abell
•Improved 91-58 in his career and to 5-5 in his first season with the Owls, moving in to a tie with Al Conover and Ken Hatfield for the third most wins by a first-year coach at Rice.
• Needs one win to become the second first-year coach in school history to lead the Owls to a bowl game (Todd Graham in 2006).

Individual Notes - Offense
# 4 Chase Jenkins
•Threw two touchdown passes for the first time in his career.

# 10 Quinton Jackson
•Rushed for 81 yards on 22 carries (ties his career high) and surpassed 1,000 career rushing yards in the first quarter.

# 11 Tyson Thompson
•Caught a season-high three passes for 33 yards.
• His 23-yard TD pass in the first quarter was his second of the season and the fourth of his career.

# 88 Keenan Arcega-Whiteside
•Made his debut and recorded his first career catch for eight yards and a third-down conversion in the third quarter. e

Individual Notes - Defense
# 0 Andrew Awe
•Tied for the team lead with seven tackles, including a career-high two sacks to raise his career total to 3.5.

# 9 Peyton Stevenson
•Blocked his second career punt in the first quarter. He was the last Owl to block a punt, vs SMU on 11/4/23 ( (Homecoming #103).

#16 Chibby Nwajuaku
•Recorded his first career solo sack in the first quarter and later shared a second sack to finish with a career-high 1.5.

# 26 Tony Anyanwu
•Shared a pair of sacks to move into the team lead and match his career-high with five on the season.
•Both sacks came in the fourth quarter, one on fourth down and the other on third as the Owls held the Blazers scoreless in the second half.

# 28 LaVonte Johnson
•Opened the game at left corner for his first career start and was credited with a career-high four tackles.

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